Written by

Jon Campbell
| Albany Bureau

The ongoing battle over who should pay for expanding prekindergarten in New York is a tale of two cities or a tale of two states, depending on which major political figure is speaking.

On one side is New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who wants to increase the income tax on the city's wealthy to pay for universal, full-day prekindergarten citywide. He campaigned last year on a Dickensian theme of a "tale of two cities," in which New York City's well-to-do and poor are facing an increasing amount of inequality.

On the other is Gov. Andrew Cuomo, de Blasio's former boss at the U.S. Department of Housing ...